Just The Way I Like It

Today was a fun Saturday off! We met up with a couple friends and went to the Oakville Jazz Festival.

It was the perfect day for a festival. We had a ball. Lots of music, outdoor cafes, vendors, sidewalk shopping, etc.

Very chill + relaxing. Just what we hoped for.

Summer please don’t end. Ever.

Love, Winter hater.

The sky was all kinds of beautiful today!

After the festival, we went to Oakville Whole Foods to try out their Food Bar. I have heard so much about the Food Bar all over the blog world. Eric was pleased to find that there were tons of delicious looking options for him as well. There is really something for everyone! I wonder if this selection is pretty standard across Whole Foods or does it vary?? The selection at this Oakville location was really, really impressive.

I can’t believe that I have never tried it before! I love that they write out the ingredient list for each food. The only small suggestion I would make to Whole Foods is that they note items that are Vegan on the ingredient card as it was a bit cumbersome to read over every ingredient for each food. I could actually eat most of the hot + cold veggie options. I was so excited and proceeded to fill a huge container!

I was really excited to find that most of the prepared foods used all natural ingredients. Some veggies, lentils, beans, olive oil, salt, etc. Very basic and…well, Whole Foods, I guess. Just the way I like my food.

We kept the outdoor theme going and dined Al fresco…

Everything tasted SO GOOD.

So very impressed. I had a bit of everything…hummus, bean salad, chickpea salad, asparagus salad, rosemary sweet potatoes, roasted tomatoes, pita bread, etc!!! My 9 mile run hunger was calling and it demanded me to fill up the tank, what can I say. ;)

I also had a delicious Green Tea Kombucha to go with it. It was really good. I am really starting to enjoy Kombucha now.

When in Rome…

I picked up a few essentials that we were out of…avocado, tomatoes, cherries, kale, and lettuce. I was on my best behaviour (so said Eric!) and said no to many things I wanted. Eric also picked up some organic turkey burgers for himself to BBQ with. I think we shall BBQ tomorrow night.

Well, I am off to hunt down some chocolate. I will see you tomorrow. :)

I am curious, if Eric eats meat and you’re vegan, when you two do have kids do you plan on raising them vegan too?

My husband is an omnivore and I’m vegetarian. So far our 1 year old daughter has been vegetarian her whole life. We say she can decide for herself when “she’s old enough”, of course, who knows when that is. We just are afraid she might one day not like him for eating meat OR she’ll dislike me for making her be vegetarian. It’s a huge issue, luckily we’ve yet to face but I don’t find a lot of couples with different eating habits like this to ask them!

I’ve been to quite a few Whole Foods and I find that most of their selections are the same. Some have more, some have less. Regardless, everything I’ve had from there is delish! It’s actually a treat for me when I go though, because it can add up very quickly!

I’m liking this weather as well, although here in northern CA it’s feeling A LOT like fall already. I’m sure we’ll get some super hot September weather as usual though.
Well, that looked like such a fun festival! And Whole Foods is the best……so fresh.
Hope you’re having a great weekend off:)

Looks so good! We used to have a similar store here in Australia (Macro Wholefoods) where I would be like a kid in a candy store! Unfortunately, last year it got bought out by one of the big conglomerates who own a huge proportion of the industry in Australia. Because I don’t agree with the values of the new ownership, I no longer go there. They have totally changed it anyway – more of a “gourmet foods” rather than “whole and organic foods” and they no longer have their cafe. :-(

Whole Food’s bar is amazing!! They have sooo much- it’s impossible to limit yourself. I’ve eaten there a few times but my first time the bill came to over $20! I was so shocked I actually went into a mini “panic”and told the cashier I couldnt pay for the food. They gladly took it off my hands..who knows, one of them might have had a free lunch outta it! ;)

Love the WF bars. They vary a bit, store to store. The store I work at has a chef that is a really good Indian cook, so we always have an AHmazing Indian hot bar. Seriously, so good! Glad you had a fun day off!! You deserve it…ummm, 5 days ;)

WOW this is too funny! Today my dad and I went to Oakville to buy some produce at the Organic Farmer’s Market, but we found it wasn’t there because of the Jazz Festival, so we, too, walked around downtown a bit to enjoy a bit of jazz. It was still pretty early though hence the streets were quite empty, so after a few hours I convinced my dad that we had to go to Whole foods – for our very first time as well!

Lol, and just like you, I was not only AMAZED at how great the place is, but my dad told me I could buy my lunch there and I found myself incredibly indecisive. There’s just so many delicious looking foods to choose from! Eventually I decided on the same bean and corn salad as well as the roasted asparagus, some fiesta broccoli (really spicy!), roasted garlic cloves, teriyaki tofu and curry “chicken” (which is actually vegetarian soy – delish!). My dad spent $12 on that box of food; it’s so easy to get carried away! :P

P.S. – I bought coconut butter for the first time, and some Amazing Grass packets to put in some future GMs – can’t wait to try them both! :D

I LOVE my Whole Foods. Unfortunately, it’s half an hour from my house on a good day! Every time I go there I spend $100. EVERY time! Last time I went I was all about the king crab legs they had, and they were absolutely fantastic!! My kids love the hot bar, so if they’re with me we’ll eat lunch there.

Yum that does look delicious. I’ve never tried the WF bar either (I’ve only been in one twice, and rather quickly). Look what I’m missing! I wish there was one closer than 1 hour from me. It looks like you had a nice, relaxing day! I’m glad you just got to “chill” after your busy baking week :)

I love the fact that they list the ingredients. I’m a vegetarian with other food allergies and sensitives so it helps me to make the best choice. Ours is over an hour away so we go only 1-2 times a month to stock up. And our trader joes is right across the street.

Wow! the salad looks incredibly delicious. We have something similar in NZ. However I wish they could use paper boxes like Canada and U.S, so we can recycle them..
That looked so tasty, I shall make a recipe that covers the colourful things from you photo!!

I find that every whole foods has a slightly different flare to them, but I have never been disappointed with their food bar, which is pretty standard at every whole foods across the country :) :) :) I probably eat more meals there then any other restaurant.

Quick question…I had my first bowl of overnight oats (non-vegan because i only had regular milk) this morning and loved it!!, though I used up the only amount of chia seeds I had (it was a sample). However, I have a big bag of flaxmeal from Bob's Red Mill …. is there some kind of substitution I could do to use flaxmeal instead of the chia?
Thanks so much!

Seriously, not much beats a WF bar lunch. The selection definitely varies though…my Orlando one is about 2x the size/selection of Tampa’s (not that Tampa’s is something to complain about, mind you). I totally agree on the notation thing though…I’ve been thinking the same thing for a while just so there’s no confusion on what is vegan/vegetarian, etc…

We were at the jazz festival yesterday too! Fun times! and that Whole Foods is my second home. They know me over there. Very bad for the budget. Awhile ago I told my husband I was on a self-imposed WF ban. It lasted a week…there are some things you just can’t get anywhere else and the produce selection is second to none. Seriously…I had some plums from there last week which were like plums from heaven (and I don’t even really care for plums). yum.

I love the Whole Foods hot bar! I just went to one for breakfast yesterday with a friend, actually! When I used to live about 2 blocks away from a Whole Foods, most of my meals came from the hot food bar. Yum!

Have you checked out Organic Garage in Oakville? Went for my first time and loved it. New to the health food stores, whole foods kind of intimidates me and I dont leave with a lot because thre is TOO much to choose from! But i left with lots of goods from the organic garage, yay! :)

I’m glad you liked the WF hot bar :) Although I like the ones in both Yorkville and Oakville, I think that the Oakville hot bar has much better selection and I always really love the food from there. I’ve always eaten inside, but the patio looks really cute :)

I love fall festivals, can’t wait for ours to start. We’ll attend our first at the end of Sept. with a 28 mile bike ride preceding it. All the more fun!
I’ll have to see what our WF has in the way of their food bar. All of that looked yummy! Not sure about this Kombucha tea, my sister was just telling me about this stuff over the weekend, the process does not sound too pretty. Eeek!